Literature contains various methods for dimensioning objects. Mechanical rulers are available in many stores, and they require contact to the surface that they measure. Optical methods are available for measuring various properties of the scene.
There are many patents that use optical triangulation to measure the distance of objects from a video sensor. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,064, multiple images from a video camera are used to apply triangulation to determine the distance of a moving target.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,680, a three-dimensional object measurement process and device are disclosed by means of optical image capture, projection of patterns and triangulation calculations. The method is used for diagnosis, therapy and documentation in the field of invasive medicine.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,506, a method and apparatus for optically determining the dimension of part surfaces, such as gear teeth and turbine blades. The method uses optical triangulation based coordinate measurement for this purpose.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,126, an optical measurement system for determination of a profile or thickness of an object is described. This system includes multiple light beams generating multiple outputs on the sensor. The outputs are processed in sequence to measure by triangulation the perpendicular distance of the first and second points from the reference plane and to analyze a surface or thickness of the object based upon thus measured perpendicular distances.
Although methods exist for measurement of objects, there does not exist a cost-effective solution for remotely measuring the length of an edge, or the volume of a box in a single snapshot.